Dentist and Tiffin Amigos

 In the Tiffins, they switch it up-biryani, curries, Idlies, dosas- it can always be a surprise, which I love. I know my family would not love the surprise and would probably not eat at a Tiffin stall, but we established I am different than everyone in a very special way.  

SO I stopped by to see the lady and her husband at my favorite Tiffin place. She was on her way out, but she stopped to talk with me. She said she had some homemade foods she was bringing home. She pulled out a couple plastic bags and  had some tiny yellow cups. Like a child, she gave me a small spoon and told me to try both and see which one I like. She said this one is very nice flavors-it just looked like green liquid with some spices, but the flavor was outrageous. She wrapped that one up for me with some rice to go-no charge. She knew I just came from the dentist and needed to just eat light for the evening. Her husband, Sunil, has the best smile and he is always friendly. They spend a bit of time talking to me and she shows me her children on her phone. She is joking around saying she works for Sunil and it is difficult to tell because he keeps hitting her on the back-the way you would do if someone was joking with you. 

 Eventually, I notice that they are just joking around with me when she shows me their family photo-two beautiful, beautiful children-a young boy and a girl just 12 years old. We start talking about marriage and he says, “Well India is forever.” I said, “USA is a few years and divorce.” He pointed to his wife and himself and he said , “Death.” Together til “Death.” That is the loyalty behind the Indian mindset.  

While divorce may be on the rise, Indians still have this beautiful traditional love marriages that exist or even arranged like some I know that are still together. There are a couple arranged marriages in my own family that are still going strong 30 plus years later. Indians make it work until it doesn’t work anymore…like until everything in the kitchen totally breaks down and there is no repair.  

India does have it’s Bollywood love story. It is true and I see it in real life. It is not just Hollywood movies with made up stories. Indians believe in commitment and making a marriage work. This couple was an obvious love story. The couple who runs a business together and has a family-this is common for millions of Indians.  It is beautiful to witness such beautiful, faithful commitment. It really is something I do not think I will ever have….. not pessimism, but just realistic thinking….  

They ask why I am not married and  

I said , “No right person, No ring.” He was kind of laughing to himself in a strange, unempathetic kind of way,  

“No right person,” he said, “Hmmm.” Well, Hmmm is right because I also have difficulty understanding why I cannot find a partner to basically do anything with and I do everything alone, like everything.  

When I get home I have this rice with this green spice. I just dump out the whole plastic bag onto the rice and mix it together. Ordinarily, a Indian would mix this with their hands. I am not in that stage and I just coat the rice and then eat it. The flavors are amazing and I am so grateful she gave me this because I did not eat anything all day. The dentist’s both were so upset that I did not have lunch before my appointment. It was a big crisis fasting and not eating. It is a way that Indians show they care and it is sweet, but it is funny how they think.  

Dr. Manasa is the master of the head nodd and so was my dentist. Wow, they are full on with the noises and the nods and I love to just go right along with it….. 

It is like 8pm and I figure I should just stay home, but I definitely have the energy to go out. A big expat event and a place that looked really pretty and upscale- it was kind of just calling my name.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In the Jungle

Going from a city up 2,000 meters to a hill station definitely  does something to the sinuses. I was woken up at 9:30 am by the neighbor with Rasheed on the phone asking if I want breakfast. I think I was literally sleepwalking … I said, “No, I’m fine. Thank you. I went to sleep and woke up at 3pm because my sinuses were so bad Manju came over and he asked if I had eaten anything. I had no phone signal, which was good because I wanted to do a Phone Detox. He gave me the phone and Racheed said, "The neighbor is going to make you some food just give her some money." I was absolutely thrilled because that meant "super homemade food from the source." I took my shower with a bucket and cool water…Something about the bucket showers just hit different… I was about to fall back asleep after my shower and heard kids shouting outside. It was the neighbor walking down the hill to my door with her two kids carrying a big pot of homemade dhal with chapati..heaven! She...
Read more

He said Don't Jump

I was walking down the street from my accommodation, and I hear someone shout, “Hey Pris, Paris.” I knew who that was immediately because he said he wanted to call me Paris. It was my friend Abhi from the festival. I could not figure out where the voice was coming from and I looked up….he was staying 3 houses down from me across the street on top of the bar/restaurant with the famous “fish thali.” He came down the steps and he gave me a handshake. “You are staying here….are you serious? I thought this was my side of town.” He laughed, “Well your place is much better than mine, but here I stay the month for great value.” When I say near, he was just across the street-I couldn’t believe it.   I met someone randomly at a festival who was staying right next to me…in a residential area…near the lake…it was just so random.   I spoke about Abhi in an earlier post-the young boy with the fresh lens on life that had a beautiful curiosity and desire to learn. The mini Priscilla.......
Read more

Rose, I love you!

  As I was walking, there is a bike that appears he says , “ Hello”…   Another guy appears again and says, “Hello.”   I sit here thinking to myself, “Who are all these guys saying “hello.”    Finally, when I see him for the third time I realize it is the same person as he is wearing a blue athletic shirt and jeans ...He was following me on the bike riding very slowly but approaching at different times lol     He sa id , “I love you.” And then I continue to walk away…   He sa id , “Yoga, I see you Gokulam.” Yoga class.   I sa id , “No, I do not do yoga.” He says he is a yoga instructor and I know that he wants to keep talking so he gives me a ride back to his place. We are biking around and he is one of those “shining happy people.” Anything could happen in life and he would always handle it with a smile.    He kept calling me “Rose.”   I did not even bother telling him my name as he was so set on calling me Rose. ...
Read more